William Lawton (ME-1)
"I, who am self appointed protector of all that I see, have seen cruelty; I've seen hate in it's purest form; I have so very much, yet I have so very little. I am not loved, I know that. Not in body or mind. I have never known the soft whisper of endearment; never have I known the peace that lies between the thighs of woman; never have I known the reciprocation of that which my eyes hold affectionately, but I am respected; I am feared. And that will suffice, because it must. Because I love. I, who am not loved in return: I have a love that is far deeper than the empty modern coupling. I have and still see cruelty and hate, but also have and still I see compassion and even love; I see everything; that is my curse, but I can do anything, and that is my gift." Early Life (Birth - 20) "I am a lot of things; an agnostic, an atheist, which most people stopped listening there back in my hometown, but I'm more; I am an ignostic, a verificationist, an empiricist, sometimes an absurdist, and most importantly a humanist, but no one cared what I was; they cared about what I wasn't. I learned a long time ago, that I'll never be a normal person. I'll never be the person people think about and say 'I wonder how he's doing. I'll give him a call... 'I miss him' I'm the person who sat in the corner, listening to all the stupid around him; I'm the person you like when you need, but after you no longer need me: I no longer exist. I'm a specter, I know my place, and it's not around people." William Byron "Will" Lawton, Junior was born in America in a time (though the place had the most to do with it) where philosophical bigotry, political staticism, and general hypocrisy ostracized any who wasn't a staunch Pro-Government, Pro-God, and Pro-Gun ideology, and Will was one of those who disagreed; he grew to believe that he was born out of his time, and that he lacked that something that made him a member of his generation. Will grew to be an incredibly intelligent and wise man, but at the cost of his social development; he became a blunt and pragmatic introvert who often used sarcasm to add humor to his life. He made efforts to become more personable, but every attempt was met with failure, especially with the opposite sex... to this day he has never been on an official date (i.e. the girl wouldn't say it was one). He went to college, double majoring in history and philosophy. Will's first (and only normal) job was working at a movie theater, where he constantly cleaned the messes left by grown adults who either never learned to clean up after themselves or simply had no manners, he stayed with the theater for five years for three reasons: by the second year the job became second nature to him; free movies for a lover of cinema; and free movie posters. Will would summarize his life as "Two short decades where I learned most of what I know now, because I had the perception to learn from nearly every crappy thing that happened to me on a daily basis." He never disclosed details of the first twenty years of his life to people he met afterward, simply putting (and leaving) it that he did not enjoy the people that surrounded him, nor they him, and that fundamentally shaped him to idealize minimal interaction with other people (nonexistent if possible). This would carry into his adulthood. He would fondly remember approximately ten people fondly from his early adulthood. Checkmate (20 - 22) "He's smart, intuitive, brutal, and he lacks any semblance of a personal life. He'd be a fantastic Black Knight, but he questions things, especially authority. He cares more about the details than the bigger picture people/preventing collateral damage. He cares, and that will prevent him from ever making a difference here at Checkmate." - Adeline Waller '' While attending the University of North Florida, he encountered a Checkmate scout, and impressed him. Will was recruited into Checkmate, and selected the Black designation. He excelled at combat, and displayed a gift of tactical analysis, but he was not a fan of authority, especially the faceless authorities of Checkmate, so he eventually parted with them on bad terms. Project Forsight ''"I'd rather fail trying to do the right thing, than succeed at doing the wrong thing." Before he left Checkmate, the organization suffered an internal coup thrown by the White King, Maxwell Lord. Lord's understanding of Checkmate's mission statement led him to believe the best way to ensure secruity for the world at large is to use Checkmate's resources to preemptively eliminate threats to society and his absolutist Checkmate, by creating the Brother Eye satelite network. Despite the dubious nature of her ethics, Black Queen Adeline Waller could not tolerate such a bold violation of due process and civil liberties, dispatching the Black Knights still loyal to her: Will and Sasha Bordeaux. Against all odds, Lawton and Bordeaux were able to overtake the other Black Knights. The Bird of Prey Season .5: The Heroic Pilgrimage (22 - 25) "Every legend starts as an urban myth; every myth starts as a man." - Working tagline Episode 1: The Wildcat Will met his first mentor the same day he left S.H.I.E.L.D., the retired boxer Thomas "the Wildcat" Grant. Episode 2: The Luchador Thomas gave Will the idea to visit Mexico and learn the high flying art of the luchador. Will spent about a month training with the luchador, learning how to trust in his body and perform high-risk-high-reward moves. He wrestled under the name "The Whitemare." Episode 3: The Detective Episode 4: The Manhunter Will's journey brought him to France to meet him. He learned about Henri "Manhunter" Ducard, an international bounty hunter who found high value targets for multiple countries. Will sought Ducard out in order to learn in techniques. Ducard was getting older, and considered retirement, but he had heard of this globe trotting sometime vigilante, and decided to impart his wisdom on the the young man. The cynical Ducard couldn't help but question Will's idealism, but through their interactions, Henri realized that Will's idealism lurked beneath an extensive shell of cynicism; he too, did not believe most people were open to change; Henri was surprised to find he shared much in common with Will, both in aptitude and in philosophy. I Need a Particular Set of Skills As Will entered France, but before he met up with Henri, Will came across news reports of young women getting kidnapped and being programmed into the human trafficking; Will realized that he was in over his head if he was to hunt them before learning from Ducard. As Will studied under Ducard, he continued to refine his search, until one day he had found all he needed; he found one of the trafficking compounds and killed all the trafficers present; Will set all the girls he found alive free, but he found he was too late to save the majority. He went back to Ducard feeling defeated. "I could have done so much better, if only I was smarter; So many of them were dead; tortured and dead; who knows how many of them were moved on to be sold; I didn't save them; I failed." "There are more people alive and free, because of what you did. Those people will tell their children, and their children's children about how a someone cared to save them; that's a lot better than what anyone else could say; Every life you save is a victory." Episode 5: A Creator and Destroyer Will's final stop on his heroic pilgrimage led him to master martial artist Shiva. Will had learned of Shiva from Henri. He had a brush with death when he fought her years before, and he said she was the only person contracted to asssassinate him who actually came close to. Will concluded he should learn from her. Henri warned Will of her allegiance to a shadowy organization called Leviathan. Will's journey to find Shiva took him to the Himalayas. Exhausted and near the breaking point, Will finally reached the Leviathan stronghold. He was surrounded by Leviathan warriors, and their master, Wei Lǐ. Will was commended for his resolve to reach them, and asked who sent him, a question he refused to answer. Wei admired his loyalty, and asked him why he was here, and Will replied he was there to learn the tools necessary to fight injustice. In order to find Shiva and recieve her training, Will knew he would have to accept membership into Leviathan. As he was initiated, he was attacked by the surrounding group once they entered the compound. Knowing he was in too weak a state to engage them all and come out victorious, he used the enviroment to his advantage and destroyed all light sources, and found a beam to hide on on the ceiling. Once they were able to reestablish the lighting they could not find him, and assumed he ran off. He waited until nightfall of the next day to strike again, earning the nickname, the Owl. Episode 6?: You Can't Save Everyone "You are a soldier, not a warrior" "What's the difference?" "A warrior fights for glory, fortune, or for violences own sake. A soldier fights for a cause; a soldier fights so others don't have to." Bird of Prey Season 1: Birdman Begins (25) “Disobedience, in the eyes of any one who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.” - Oscar Wilde Episode ?: Assassins, Crimes, Sex, and It's Not Even Time to Open Presents Bird of Prey Season 2: Escalation (25-26) "Your enemies will define you." Working tagline Episode 1: The Perfect Crime (Part ?) Episode 2: Masterless The (Slightly Less) Lonely Path Episode 3?: Masks "I don't need a life outside the cowl, nor do I want one. Outside the suit, I'm just another random human that no one really knows or cares about. I'm only ever me when I wear that suit, and save people in this way; my way; the only way I truly can." An Awkward Date to End All Awkward Dates Episode ?: The Vigilante, the Villlain, and the Hero "I'm so sorry Charlie. I'm sorry you paid for being the only hero, and that the people you looked up too were nothing by empty symbols." Episode ?: There Are No Winners The First Apokopliptian Invasion of Earth The Bird of Prey Season 3: The Fires of Dumas (28 or 29) “Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.” - Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli "Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful." - Edward Gibbon The War on Christmas A new group was starting to emerge on the organized crime market, an extremist religous order called the Order or Purity / The Sacred Order of Saint Dumas. This groups goal was to purge the society of undesirables (e.g. intellectuals, Muslims, atheists, Jews, Buddhists, etc). Will began to notice most people were coming out against them, except for two organizations: Fox News, and the televangelist ministries of one Frederick Rollo. You Walk This Path Alone Vengeance Tangent The Fires Will Consume You Knight Owl was on the verge of a breakthrough with the case, and was then attacked by one of the Order's soldiers, Azrael. Vindication (or Was It Worth It?) Knightfall "You tried to play hero, and now it's going to blow up in your face, and destory everything you care about." After defeating and dissolving the Order of St. Dumas, Will returned to his Nest to recuperate. However, he was interrupted as soon as he got up to the Nest by an agent of a far more destructive organization. the mysterious agent preyed on Will's exhaustion, and nearly killed him, and destroyed his Nest. During the fight, Will recognized the voice as Harvey Dent, now a member of Leviathan as he felt he was about to deliver the final blow on Knight Owl. Will narrowly escaped with is life, crashing into a building below. Dent could not confirm his death, as the Police and Fire Department were on the scene. They did not find Knight Owl's body either, but the media reported Knight Owl was dead. The Apex Predator (To be Rebooted) (28 or 29) What Breaks First: the Body or the Spirit? Why Do We Fall? "You gotta have heart, because it's the one thing that makes a fighter that can't be taught. You can teach anyone the moves; anyone can learn all these new fighting styles, but not everyone's got the fire to take pain and make it strength. You gotta have heart if you want to be anything worth being in life, and kid, you've got more heart than anyone I've ever met." - The Wildcat '' While he knew Hamill worked for Leviathan, he still did not know what their goal was, and why it involved killing Knight Owl, but none of that mattered to him for the moment. He was angry and he wanted Hamill to pay for what he had done to him and the people he loved most, and he was going to pay for it dearly. Before he left, Shiva said: ''"There's something different about you; it's the girl. You love her, and your mysterious opponent knows it and will use that against you. Is she worth it?" - Shiva Will grimly replied: "This isn't about love." Shiva almost uncharacteristically replied: "Then you will lose." "Knight Owl isn't just a stupid fucking costume you put on, nor is it just who you really are. Much more than that: Knight Owl is a promise. A promise to anyone that when forces conspire to harm them, so too is there a force planning to protect them. It's a promise you've made by being just and vehement; by being yourself. A lot of people have died for this promise, and I wish I could say the one thing that will take their weight off your shoulders, but I can't. What I can say, is they all believed in that promise, and wanted to see you keep it. So what will be: stay here and mourn people who can't feel anything anymore, or prove to the world that they trained a person who always keeps his promise?" - Thaddeus Tucker Will traveled to Henri Ducard's estate in Normandy... No One Fucks With My Family Upon returning to his New York Nest, where it had all started. Always a Fighter "I lied all those years ago, Grant. I think you knew that. I needed to prove that you didn't make a mistake; that you didn't train a loser. This time I needed to prove in my mind if no elses', that I deserve that suit, that name. I need to know that my reflection in the mirror isn't just a child's fantasy. This time...I did it for me." After defeating Dent, Will heard a voice coming from his broken helmet. He grabbed the earpiece and microphone to speak to the voice. It was the leader of Leviathan, Wei Lǐ. He congratulated Will on defeating Dent, and proving himself to truly be the Apex Predator. Wei Lǐ told him it was his goal all along to have the Apex Predator join him in his crusade to cleanse the world of undesirables (Will called it a lethal stress-test). Will refused and Wei Lǐ rhetorically asked where people like Will, who do not belong with the masses, will stand if he does not stand with his equals in Leviathan, to which Will replied: "I will stand exactly where I belong: between people like you, and everyone else." Brainiac Attacks Extinction of the Owls "For the record, I agreed with damn near everything you've said. I don't really find my fellow man that redeeming or charming either. We are hopelessly and hilariously hypocritical and cruel beings most of the time. Most of them are probably beyond change, but that's not enough to eradicate them all. That's what a bigot does; that's what they'd do. Everyone's interconnected; they love other people; they mean something to someone else, who would be deeply saddened by their deaths. To kill them all because you don't like them, no matter how well formed an opinion, is the height of cruelty and naiveté." Superhumanity Hobbesian Knightmare Shadow War Rise of a Legend (The Bird of Prey Returns Part 1) "I stopped going out at night because I realized I was getting angrier, and I'd do something really wrong. I really don't like hurting people, and I never enjoyed the notion or act of killing, but I'm human, and my species has evovled for millions of generations to kill each other, and I'll always have that in me no matter how hard I try to pretend otherwise, so I stopped...and I miss it." "So? Get angry, feel that rage. I know you can control it, and deep down you do too. The world needs someone like to you to stand up as you do, and inspire others to do the same. I know that in your greatest rage, you will still be just. Your passion is what you are really supressing, and it the very thing that got you to put on the mask and go out at night, and it was the very thing that saved so many lives. do you think that becasue you are aware of your inner urges, you are somehow inable to draw the line, or that the lives you have saved no longer make the difference?" Never Again This Ain't No Place For No Hero Despite this vow, Will found himself interferring in countless crimes in progess inside a year of quitting as Knight Owl. The Legend of the Knight Owl Will Mean Nothing. At. All. Fall of Apokolips (The Bird of Prey Returns Part 2) The Second Apokopliptian Invasion of Earth "A man with a cause can be stronger than a god." Art & War "You should have stayed retired, Vigilante." "And what, miss my chance to beat Surfer Dude and the mother of all Feminazis?" "What your tongue, I am a God." "A somehow highly powerful and advanced civilization with bronze-age race ethics and predictable tactics, I'm not impressed, much less intimidated, oh divine ones." ... "Did I ever tell you how I could still be an atheist after meeting the gods of two different pantheons? It's the whole perfect thing; infinite, inerrant beings that always do the correct thing; all the omnis and stuff. Anyway. I still call myself an atheist, to your face, because if you were a god, you would have known to not fuck with me or my planet." No Gods, No Masters τέλος "I will take everything from you. I will meet your best efforts with complete and utter failure; I will render the value of any remote success you find nebulous; I will crush your luck, your hope, and finally, your will. Only when you have paid witness to such despair will you truly understand the nature of the Anti-Life Equation, and only then will I permit you to die." “Look into my eyes Telos. See every moment of pain and misery as I have, through my eyes. Experience my failures as I have, as they did people he could not save. Endure my failures as I have. You're right: Death is inevitable, ruthless, and unyielding. Death is with me always, but I found something else. Something just like Death itself: something equally unavoidable, relentless, and resolute... Me!... In all your genius you fail to recognize one simple fact of all existence: Life and Death are equally absolute.” Personality See Also: Inspector (role variant) "More than anyone in the world, when you scratch everything else away from Knight Owl, you're left with someone who wanted to be a good man, and wanted to be loved by a good woman." William Lawton's personality is not for the faint of heart. Growing up to enjoy being an outsider, Will developed an overt sense of humor in order to hide who he truly was from people, while getting his kicks with obscure sarcasm; he was known for his self-deprecation, observational and trivial jokes, and deadpan delivery, which was generally off putting to most people in his hometown He is a cynical man armed with a dry, acerbic, and above all, laconic wit, a brutal honesty and a lot of internalized rage. Sense of humor aside, Will is study of contrasts; he has moments in which he is utterly cynical, but has often expressed blatant optimism in moments others would have succumbed to despair; it's often pointed out that he would not dress up like an owl most nights if he was truly pessimistic. He is analytical and detail oriented, yet he also had an appreciation for the bigger picture as well. Will was an avid student of history, science, and philosophy. In his youth he was incredibly argumentative and passionate, but years of people viewing him as nothing more than an intolerant atheist (they preferred the words "lost one", infidel, “militant atheist,” etc) would lead to Will abandoning conversation for years, due to rarely finding people he could considered peers. In fact, he spent most of his adult personal life pursuing relationships where he could argue with people without worrying about hurting their feelings. The rarity of finding his peers left him protective of his mentors, and allies. Will is often seen as arrogant due to his largely dismissive nature towards people who disagree with him; he is almost always correct, and rejects people who offer opinion to counteract fact, a trait he once took the time to explain when he was younger, but no longer cares to. Will is a very angry person, as he always had an intuitive sense of fairness, and realizes that many people in the world would prefer to life in an unfair world so long that it benefits themselves; he often self-describes himself as a misanthrope, but beyond his critical nature of humanity, he harbors a deep love and admiration for what he knows humanity can be. He was known for his strict sense of honor in fighting, for which all of his mentors were all critical of, but undeterred, Will always fights fair, and he still wins all the same. Despite coming across as uncaring, with a complete disregard for social niceties, he would fight to protect those in his care, and he would react with devastation if harm befell them. He was known for a strong compassionate streak, talking a young adult from committing suicide, and assisting Roxy in her vendetta against Black Mask even after she had attempted to blackmail him. When she queried why he was continuing to help her, he replied by asking whether she thought "that I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?" Knight Owl showed less restraint than some of his fellow vigilantes, and he would get frank and physical with his enemies (although he noted he never did anything remotely close to what his country called “advanced interrogation”). However, he had a conflicted sense of morality and struggled with his inner darkness. While he sometimes voiced preconceptions about human nature, he often questioned his own judgement afterwards. Indeed, behind his cold exterior was a man who was extremely self-reflective, to the point where he questioned whether he was in fact a good man; this self-reflection prevented him from ever referring to himself as a hero for years. Will was not an expressively affectionate man, failing to return most peoples’ hugs, or protesting against them, believing they are meant for people one truly cares for, and also disliked holding hands with others. He was momentarily dumbfounded when Roxanne Beaumont pecked him on the cheek in gratitude for saving her. When asked why, he said that he’s simply not accustomed to receiving tokens of affection from non-blood relatives. In general killing is against his moral code However, the he has expressed his willingness in the metaphor of Confucian philosophy: meaning he prefers to avoid it, as it is ideal, but he will not commit to a “no kill rule,” as his spiritual predecessor had, as that is limiting if a situation presents itself, where killing is the optimal option. Unlike many of his contemporaries who relied on allies to keep them grounded, Will had to rely on his own introspection and self-control from succumbing to his darker nature most of the time. After seeing him nearly snapping for the first time, Roxy once said she gained a whole new level of respect and concern simultaneously for him after watching rein himself in. By his own testament, he did not suffer fools gladly, and as such, he rarely repeated statements he recently spoke, and he abhorred explaining things he found to be so simple that they were nearly self-evident. Despite his grumpy nature, he got along well with children. They were even drawn to him, an odd fact he and his friends were stunned by. The Philosopher For most of his life, the one thing Will wanted to be was a philosopher. Even into his early years as a vigilante, he hoped to be the kind of person the likes of Aristotle, Sextus Empircus, and Denis Diderot would call a philosopher. By his own admission he was dedicated to two things in life: Knight Owl, and ethics. In fact, he believed it was his philosophy that lead him to being a vigilante. For Will, while metaphysics posed interesting and worthwhile questions, ethics were by far more important, since in his view, no metaphysical claim could make ethics irrelevant, and it even appeared that metaphysics was irrelevant to ethics, which he felt led him to accepting other labels. He tried to hold to a modfied form of virtue ethics: *Wisdom: the quality of having and seeking experience, knowledge both in general and on ethical matters. From this virtue all others follow. **This conception includes general introspection, but also skeptical inquiry into both non-moral and moral fields. *Justice: the ability to act with fairness and wisdom. *Courage: the ability to act with wisdom despite physical pain and/or fear. *Compassion: sympathetic understanding of and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. *Humor: The ability to perceive things as amusing. This does not mean in any situation a joke should be made, but rather the ability to see humor even in negative circumstances. *Pride/Humility: The quality of being proportionately satisfied of one’s achievements, and to recognize one’s flaws. *Honor: The quality of being worthy of another agents trust and respect He also tried to keep Hawking's criticism of modern philosophers in mind when he thought about philosophy, which was that they do not seem to take what science shows us in mind when they consider the big questions of life. For will, the seven virtues listed led him to accepting other labels: *Humanism: Follows from Wisdom, Justice, Compassion, and Pride/Humility. Regardless of metaphyscial claims of supernatural beings, Humans are clearly social animals and are interdependent, thus they must form alliances based on some common grounds. *Egalitarianism: Follows from Wisdom, Justice, and Compassion. One of the common grounds for a healty society. the wise understand that history is filled with numerous examples of tragic loss of life, limb, and liberty in societies based on non-equal citizenship. Additionally the biological fact that we are social animals and care about our fellow species members illustrates the benefit of making people's worth independent of skin color, age, sex, sexuality, etc. *Meritocracy: Follows from Wisdom, Justice, Pride, Honor, and Egalitarianism. *Skepticism "You wanna know what it's like to be me? Fine, I tell you. I've cleansed my worldview of superstition since I was seventeen years old, and I have been surrounded by ignorant, arrogant, and malicious people of superstitious leaning ever since. The people think it's as wrong to be gay as it is murder or rape: more so actually, since their books hold up "heroes" who rape, pillage, and slaughter. As long as you rape, pillage, and slaughter under the command of the correct imaginary friend. Every single day I have to think of how I'm supposed to see the good in everyone, when the vast...vast majority of them hold to bronze age superstition that dehumanizes people who hold to different creeds, and love different people, and hold the idea that they deserve to suffer forever. Then there's all those people who cherry pick the "good stuff" and ignore the cruelty on the next page... or next sentence in many cases. I may not be good, but they're not either. I wonder if anyone is." "The fact that you think about this when others just accept and parrot things, proves your better than you give yourself credit for. You truly are a philosopher. You go through those thoughts every single day, and still chose to protect people, because you believe in the fundamental potential of humanity. I know it must be hard, harder than you've been willing to share. And not for nothing, but if any one person deserved to be called "good" it would be you. You see all the dirt and grime on humanity, and yet you preserve it anyway." The Ritual In the original Owl's Nest, Will had a ritual in which he'd play a fun song (e.g. Queen's Don't Stop Me Now or Stevie Wonder's Superstition) and dance (very poorly) while he suited up, or just did his detective work. He did this to remind himself that part of the reason he chose to be Knight Owl instead of a blandly clad vigilante or a legally employed law enforcement official is because he wanted to actually have fun doing it, considering he planned to be a vigilante as long as he could sustain it. And once they coupled, Roxy joined him during these rituals. From Vigilante to Hero "He's not big on the popular term "superhero" or even "hero", but if someone claims to be a finer hero on this planet than William Lawton, they're lying." "A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example. " - Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (The inscription on the statue of Knight Owl) Relationships Roxy Beaumont "You won't let me in, you've got your mask back on." "I have no mask when I'm with you. If I did you'd see right through it. You know me. We don't really need each other, and we're not the most expressive of people, but I want a partner, you want a partner. I think we can help each other out." Will and Roxy (More accurately Knight Owl and The Cat) have a complicated relationship. On one hand, they're both vigilantes, but on the other, they have entirely different motivations (e.g. Will wants to protect the innocent from predatory criminals, and Roxy wants to enrich herself of the ill-gotten gains of said predatory criminals), however they both cross into the other motivations as well on occasion (e.g. Roxy often shares the wealth she steals with others, and Will often claims to enjoy beating criminals on occasion, and fought Harvey Dent to prove his dominance as much as his responsibility to others). They cross paths with each other often, and initially did so with playful hostility, but they fairly quickly grew on each other and they began to flirt with one another. Over time they came rely on each other, valuing each other's company. However, both guarded their truest feelings from the other for years. The Justice League "At first glance he would appear the weakest of us: a Kryptonian with the power to absorb solar radiation, extend his limbs, fly at super speeds, and nearly lift moons, a speedster, a super soldier who can fly and fire energy blasts, and two gods, Why on Earth would a human, who is not even at the peak of his species be one of us? Because in his weakness, he is strong; he is cunning, deceptively strong in body and will, and above all...kind and heroic in nature. It may be hard to believe, but he is the strongest of us." Powers and Abilities Powers None (formerly, 1994-???) Will was unaltered Homo sapiens sapien, and as such, he lacked any superhuman powers for the beginning of his career. Artificially Enhanced Biology (??? - ) Asfter getting physically destroyed by Brainiac, Will's biology was transformed by using the serum Miraclo, and healing pod into a superhuman. Muscular Efficiency Will's musculature was modified into being almost perfectly efficient, much like other primates. Despite only gaining six pounds (all from the weight of the serum itself), He is now capable of lifting a ton with ease, and it was calculated he could possibly lift five tons under pressure. He can punch through concrete walls, and engage Demigods with ease. Holt later experimented on him years after the intial injection, years into his semi-retirement, and he observed that Will's metabolism was in a constant state of flux, and that his body was constantly getting stronger. By the time of the second Apokoliptian Invasion, Will was officially classified as superhuman, with the ability to lift several tons, run in excess of eighty miles per hour, and even possessed the ability to heal from serious stabbings and gun shots within minutes. Super Senses ("Vastly Expanded Situational Awarness") In addition to his enhanced musculature, will's body was sensually enhanced as well. While it was initially assumed that he had "Near-Perfect situational awareness," he corrected to say "Vastly Expanded Situational Awarness," as there are way too many variables in any given natural situation for even perfectly functioning human senses to detect them all and process them correctly in the mind. He did go on to claim no human would likely take him by surprise, but nature would always have the upper hand on him. He sees in the visible light spectrum with virtual perfection, etc. Abilities Peerless Close-Quarter Combatant Will is a master close-quarter fighter. He is a black belt in Taekwondo, self taught in Boxing, and scored the highest marks among Checkmate recruits in their combat system. In addition to Checkmate combatives, Will learned combat systems from Rodrigo Corazón, Henri Ducard, and Shiva; he learned acrobatic tactics and unorthodox environment use from Rodrigo Corazón; he learned a idiosyncratic admixture of Drunken Monkey style Kung Fu, Sambo, and Savate from Ducard; as well as Shiva's admixture of multiple Kung Fu styles (Tiger, Leopard, Crane, Viper, Dragon). After learning from all these masters of combat, lead to Will's highly individualistic fighting style that even Slade Wilson noted it is too complex to replicate. Will's sheer skill has enable him to best experienced Checkmate agents and super soldiers. He has a gift for utilizing his cunning intellect, talent for improvising unlikely weapons, and his gift of analyzing his opponents on the fly. Adeline Waller, Slade Wilson, and Wei Lǐ have commented that he cannot be beat with a simple close-quarter engagement. Master Tactician and Strategist "I beat you before I saw you." "Strategy lies in knowing your opponent or opponents better they know themselves: know their weaknesses, their strengths, but most importantly know your own. For me it often boils down to hitting first, and hitting hard." Will is a trained tactician and strategist; first trained by the Checkmate, and later Henri Ducard, and later still by Shiva; Will is trained to take on multiple enemies, even a small army with incredible precision, efficiency, and is noted to do so with "remarkable showmanship." He is trained to utilized unorthodox positions to take down enemies lethally or non-lethally; as a martial artist, Will is a very intimate and effective close-quarters strategist as well, to the point of preferring it. This sets him apart from other dubbed "Super Soldiers," and peak humans, as his sheer skill and intellect afford him advantages in fights. Indomitable Willpower "I'd rather always fail, than never try, because no matter how bad things get: where there's a Will there's a way. Yeah I said it, and it's true." The closest he gets to a "power" to speak of. Lawton is a very strong-willed person. No matter what he must overcome, he finds a way. He has struggled to balance his life as an ordinary member of society, and as a vigilante in a world of super powered beings. He is documented with overcoming great physical pain, damaged limbs, and even mental trauma. His superiors at Checkmate noted of him, that he never gives up, he must be killed if he ever becomes a liability. His unstoppable determination has aided him in resisting all forms of temptation, telepathy, and engaging metahumans far beyond his physical capacity. Telepathic Resistance Will demonstrated the ability to repel telepaths; not only did he repel them, but he did with ease simply stating the words "get out of my head." Intimidation Despite the seemingly ludicrous idea of dress like an owl and beating thugs up, Will is highly adept at the art of intimidation; Will prefers to intimidate the same way he leads: by example; Will uses his training and natural instincts as a predator in tandem with his unstoppable determination to create an environment of psychological warfare that few can overcome. He also uses reputation as an unbeatable combatant to weed out the weakest minded. By the time he retired and returned to the cowl at the age of 36, despite having been absent for several years, he easily rendered trained Checkmate operatives incapacitated with fear. Multilingual Will can fluently speak and write French, in addition to his native English; He is fluent and Chinese, but cannot write, and he is conversationally adept in Japanese. He uses in-cowl technology to translate languages as he hears them. He is known to attempt to speak the native language of a place he is at as a sign of respect. Acting & Disguise Weaknesses Analysis Paralysis "Analysis paralysis or paralysis of analysis is the state of over-analyzing (or over-thinking) a situation so that a decision or action is never taken, in effect paralyzing the outcome. A decision can be treated as over-complicated, with too many detailed options, so that a choice is never made, rather than try something and change if a major problem arises. A person might be seeking the optimal or "perfect" solution upfront, and fear making any decision which could lead to erroneous results, when on the way to a better solution." This is Will's greatest weakness, both as Knight Owl and as a person in general. Adeline Waller noted that, of the four, Will's tendency to over-analyze is his only weakness that affects his ability to work optimally. Rage Partially due to his youth, and partially due to his passion, Will is sometimes prone to feeling intense rage. While it is reletively rare, sometimes Will's rage prevents him from using his skills properly, and opens himself up to mistakes. In addition to possible mistakes, Will's rage has also been demonstrated to lead Will to seriously harming an adversary, even possibly killing them; he stated that he hung up his cape and cowl because he realized his rage was growing, and he might seriously hurt or kill someone who didn't deserve it. Math While Will is a polymath in many subjects such as history, philosophy, political science, and biology; he is notably weak in the comprehension of Mathematics. He comprehends basic algebra and geometry, but cannot go much further than that. Females Perhaps on par with Analysis Paralysis, Females rank as a tremendous chink in Knight Owl's pseudo-feather armor. Covered best on the Romantic Life sub-section of the Personality section, females almost effortlessly cause Will great mental anguish. He finds the social stereotypes of males as perpetuated by females is offensive, and he finds it unfair that they can be as cruel as they like without a single repercussion. Paraphernalia Knight Owl Armor/Suit Will utilized several forms of clothing and body armor in the beginning of his career as a vigilante, but when Will returned to the states and "inherited" some shares in HoltTech, and became the main field tester for HoltTech inventions in Applied Sciences, Will made use of the prototype armor called DARPA Avian series Tactical Predator Modular Armor; the Avian series armor is a specially designed jumpsuit made from a modified version of the Pinnacle Armor designed Dragon Skin bodysuit (Will later nicknamed them "Owl feathers"); The fabric of the suit is interwoven with Kevlar (outer layer), Dragon Skin(core material), allowing it to reduce damage caused by bullets with relatively low velocity, such as pistol rounds and assault rifle rounds fired from long range, though it is relatively weak against bullets from closer ranges, as they maintain a faster velocity, and more power, and shrapnel from 12 feet. It has a weight of 4 pounds (unloaded) and a thickness of 8 millimeters (1/4 inches). Due to it's light weight, and the special materials it is made from, the wearer's movements are nearly silent. The armor was tested to maintain core body temperatures down to 15 degrees Fahrenheit with the hood up, and as high as 110 degrees. the wearer could go ”from Rothera to the Sahara” and stay relatively comfortable. The outer layer of the Kevlar was treated with a polymer fiber similar to the coating on stealth aircraft: matte-black, slightly rough to the touch for maximum light absorption. The micro-roughened exterior partially defuses light. About 30% of whatever photons strike the surface gets trapped, if only for a split second, but enough to diffuse them. Bottom line: The suit allows the wearer to blend in with the shadows and darkness very well. The synthetic, glossy material and most of Will's equipment are often a very dark color, almost black when viewed from a shadowy place, though upon closer inspection, the suit itself is actually a dark gray. The Avian series is the most modular system of all the DARPA Tactical Predator Armors and is modifiable to the way the operator would feel comfortable. It can also be worn in conjunction with different tactical equipment and clothes. It was later equipped with modified repulsar boots for actual flight capabilities. The Cowl Knight Owl's cowl was designed from a prototype flight helmet for both pilots and paratroopers; the display would be tailored to display the information relevant to either the jumper or pilot; as a former paratrooper himself, Will chose to modify the paratrooper version. Will and Lucius Fox modified the helmet to add advanced audio receptors, affectionately called "Great Owl Horns." The on helmet goggles were heavily modified with enhanced zooming faculties, night vision, thermal vision, and sonar vision; the sonar vision capability is used in a similar fashion as night vision; as night vision amplifies any available light, the sonar vision utilizes any sounds made to provide the location of anyone or anything even if it's behind a wall. The cowl was also modified with a mouthpiece, that also functioned as a gas mask, and could also be used to disguise Will's voice. The cowl was also outfitted with taser countermeasures to prevent any unwanted removal of the cowl. Collapsible Bladed Gauntlets Will and Holt co-engineered a modified version of the bladed gauntlets he wore in his time with the Chaste; in order to avoid undue injuries to himself, or the criminal he may be fighting, both men decided to make the blades collapsible; it was later modified to be fired as well. These blades are strong enough to break Katanas, lead pipes, and even some gun barrels with the proper amount of force. Will had both gauntlets outfitted with grapple launchers. The gauntlets also contain hidden blades that pivot and become daggers when need be. "Memory Fabric" Gliding Cape Memory Cloth was one of Lucuis' brainchildren, designed as a cheaper and more effective alternative to Raptor flight armor; with no current running through it, the memory cloth funtions as a cape made of a flexible fabric, with a nylon outer layer, it also had "velvety" quality of the outermost layer; the material is also water and fire resistant When a current is run through the memory cloth from electrical triggers within either gloves; the loose molecules realign and the cloth tenses up and becomes a rigid shape and the shape can be altered to whatever use as long as it has a skeletal frame to mimic; Will and Michael made a winged frame that was similar to owl feathers. Utility Belt "The Heavy" "The Heavy" is a specialized Knight Owl armor designed for extended flight, and enduring the vacuum of space. It utilizes Michael Holt's state-of-the-art nuclear powered propulsion technology. Initially it was designed as a suit of armor, to protect the nuclear power source and the person wearing it from most conventional methods of assualt, but Will had Holt make a Wingpack form that required a light nuclear generator to use in general, using the Heavy only when he felt outmanned and outgunned. The Heavy Suit E-53.png|The Heavy, prior to Knight Owl recoloring it. The Heavy Flight Pack E-53.jpg|The Wingpack based on the Heavy suit that Will had made. Multi-Purpose Rife (M.P.R.) Before Will became Knight Owl, Holt invented a collapsible rifle designed to have multiple settings for the military. It was then named the Multi-Response Rifle, but the military had no interest in an exclusivly non-lethal weapon that costed more than any other rife on the market to make and maintain. When Knight Owl got it, he added an two additional features the rife and redubbed it the Multi-Purpose Rife. The Rife has a stun setting that fires slow traveling bullets that stun the victim; a sticky explosive setting that fires tiny balls of explosive gel with a modifiable timer, a sleeper dart setting, a sleeping gas setting, and an EMP setting that fires a ball of adhesive gel similar to the explosive gel that contain a tiny EMP device. T-Spheres Michael's greatest claim to fame is the seemingly infinitely multi-tasking balls called Terrific Spheres, shortened with the intent to market as T-Spheres. They are electrically powered, and programable to perform numerous actions. Will programed three T-Spheres to aide him in the areas of crime fighting that he was weakest, for instance, forensics. They are capable of levitation by using Holt's Nimbus generators and scan the enviroment around Knight Owl as he investigates crime scenes. Freeze Grenade/Mine Trivia *William is the anglicized form of the Saxon name Wilhelm; "Wil" meaning "of the will or desire" and "helm" meaning protection, typically understood as "Vehement Protector" **He actively suppresses any attempt to call him "Bill" or "Billy." *Milton Kahn is the combination of the first and last names of the creators of Batman: Milton "Bill" Finger, and Robert Kahn aka Bob Kane. *Charles-Wolmar Diderot is a triple reference: **Charles is French name meaning "free man"; **Wolmar is the name of a character in Jean-Jacques Rousseau's novel Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse, the character is thought to be a reference to fellow philosophe Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach, an Enlightenment philosophe who wrote on atheism and materialism. **Diderot is the surname of Denis Diderot, who, like Baron d'Holbach, wrote on atheism and materialism. *Of his four aliases, three of them are official fake identities: Charles-Wolmar Diderot, Milton Kahn, and Maximilian Kruger. He made the other one up on the spot (using the name Jason Peter Todd whenever someone asks him his name). *The alias Jason Peter Todd is a reference to the second Robin and Red Hood. **In universe, it is the name of the Robin in Richard Barrison's Batman show. Like the mainstream Jason Todd, he is killed by one of Batman's nemeses. However he is never resurrected, and it's what the writers of the show used to end the series when the show was canceled. *His first presdential vote went to Bernie Sanders. *Shiva's nickname for him is Fukurō (ふくろう), which means Owl. *He was given the nickname Themistocles because of their similarly large ambitions (Themistocles' for status, Will's for global justice), their pragmagtic genius, tactical brilliance, as well as the fact that Will believes in making a lawful system worthy of the people, and the name Themistocles literally means "glory of the law." Will admitted that he loved the nickname, as he admired Themistocles. *He hates the word "Caucasian," and refuses to refer to himself as one. *His voice is often described as "mechanical," "blunt," "smug," "harsh," "eerily calculative / level-headed," and "above all laconic" both as Knight Owl and in his natural tone of voice, though it has also been described "imposing," "authoritative," and even "charismatic" by people he intends to lead. As he got older it would be describe as "tired." *He earned his nom de gurre in two different ways: **The first was the nickname "Night Owl", which he gained throughout his life for rarely sleeping, and doing so mostly during the day. **He also was called "The Owl" due to his excellent peripheral vision. *When asked who he'd like to play him in a biopic of his life, Will claimed he wanted Tom Hardy or Charlie Cox to play him, although he thinks Tom Hardy and Charlie Cox look far better. **After saying that, he was immediately told that he looked more like Edward Norton, particularly as he looked in ''American History ''X; he doesn't see it. **He has also been told he looked like Tom Cruise with Down Syndrome one while wearing sunglasses. *The subtitle "My Ithaca, My Penelope," references the completion of Knight Owl's own Odyssey from a soldier without a cause, to a hardened vigilante, to legendary hero. In addition it also solidifies Roxy's official status as Will's Penelope. **Humorously (and coincidentally I swear it), the name Penelope has a avian etymological origin: The origin of her name is believed by Robert S. P. Beekes to be Pre-Greek and related to pēnelops (πηνέλοψ)3 or pēnelōps (πηνέλωψ), glossed by Hesychius as "some kind of bird" (today arbitrarily identified with the Eurasian Wigeon, to which Linnaeus gave the binomial Anas penelope), where -elōps (-έλωψ) is a common Pre-Greek suffix for predatory animals; however, the semantic relation between the proper name and the gloss is not clear. In folk etymology, Pēnelopē (Πηνελόπη) is usually understood to combine the Greek word pēnē (πήνη), "weft", and ōps (ὤψ), "face", which is considered the most appropriate for a cunning weaver whose motivation is hard to decipher, so either Dawn is "Catbird," an incredibly hilarious and unintential reference to Catwoman's "Catbird" identity in Gothtopia, or she's clever and hard to discern her motivation, as Catwoman always is. *He has only ever been defintively beaten in hand to hand combat twice, once by his mentor Shiva, and the other by Harvet Dent. **He tends to discount Dent's victory for three reasons: **#He already beat over thirty people less than an hour prior, and was exhausted. **#Dent's victory lied in copying every move Will had learned. **#He won the rematch. *He was known in his personal life for monologuing. **This quirk is inspired by Peter Capaldi's Doctor, and my own possession of said quirk. *He also frequently emphasizes his sarcasm by employing "the Movie Trailer Voice." *Unlike Batman, who's default transportation is the famous Batmobile, Knight Owl almost exclusively used his VTOL: the Athene noctua. He preferred to make use of his "Batmobile" when he needed to engage beings far more powerful than himself, or multiple enemy vehicles. However when he engaged in plainclothes reconnaissance, he made frequent use of the Silver Bullet. 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